Chapter 896: Great Chaos Is Coming

"Sir, be careful!"

"Sir, don't lose focus!"

"Sir!!"

Everyone cried out in panic!

But in the next instant…

A black moon emerged behind Fang Yue.

Sssssssss—

Almost at the moment the black moon appeared, hundreds, thousands of black thorns, like thorny needles, exploded outward from Fang Yue in all directions, piercing every Black Blood Ghoul simultaneously.

Before anyone could even react, all the Black Blood Ghouls had been pierced through and died, collapsing into clattering Ruin Stones that struck the ground with crisp sounds.

Meanwhile, Fang Yue's figure had already rushed close to the Tail's side.

Just as he neared the Tail, he suddenly sensed a deadly threat descending from behind!

"Audacious ghoul! How dare you cause chaos in Jingcheng!"

The threat came swiftly, unexpectedly, and was utterly perilous!

Without conscious thought, Fang Yue turned and drew his sword in a slash faster than he could even see.

Zzzzzz!!

Amid the sword's hum.

The attacker's head rolled off, his body fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

But Fang Yue himself had a deep gash across his left leg, sizzling faintly—as if it were more than a mere wound, with some cursed essence clinging inside!

Looking down at the rolling head, Fang Yue froze.

He had seen this man before.

In the Wen Wu Da Dian, among the Qing Si ranks.

Though not near the front, he was definitely Qing Si—and someone who could appear in the Wen Wu Da Dian must have held a high official rank.

Upon closer inspection, Fang Yue noticed… the rolling head's brow bore a faint resemblance to some of You Sisi's features.

Fang Yue's heart skipped.

Could it be… that he'd accidentally killed one of You Sisi's relatives?

Fang Yue felt a pang of unease.

True, he'd acted in self-defense, slashing instinctively at the attacker—but his sudden surge in power had caused a loss of control. Otherwise, he'd have only inflicted Heavy Injury, not killed outright.

"You Da Mao!"

"Lord You Da Mao!"

"This ghoul killed Lord You Da Mao!"

The Qing Si reinforcements arriving just then saw Fang Yue's sword strike—and combined with the thunderous black clouds above his head, the black blood oozing from his right eye, and the black disc spinning endlessly behind him, they now fully believed him to be a ghoul.

"Wait! This is a misunderstanding!"

Fang Yue hurriedly tried to suppress his power, but despite his full effort, the Ghoul Spirit Root's energy continued to leak out.

His connection to the Ghoul Spirit Root had grown even tighter.

At that moment, the Qing Si team members nearby suddenly stirred, then stepped back in unison, clearing a path.

A man with a massive axe on his back walked slowly down the path to You Da Mao's headless corpse.

His face looked old, but his body was grotesquely muscular—each muscle bulging, his height towering two or three times that of an ordinary man, appearing outright monstrous.

Yet he wore Red Clothes—the Qing Si's Red Clothes!

He was You Da Mao's younger brother, one of You Sisi's many cousins, named You Xiaomao.

You Xiaomao stared blankly at the headless corpse.

"Big brother… Big Cat Brother!"

His expression shifted from shock to hollow despair, then to cold calm, then to a sneer—then to rage, pure, absolute fury!

"Aaaaaaah!!!"

He suddenly roared to the sky, locking his gaze directly onto Fang Yue.

"Wait, wait! It's not what you think—I'm Qing Si too! I'm Qing Si Red Clothes!"

Boom!!

The muscle-monster You Xiaomao ignored Fang Yue entirely, stomping the ground and shattering it as he surged forward at terrifying speed.

Vengeance had consumed him, stripping away all reason.

"Kill that ghoul!"

"Avenge Lord You Da Mao!"

"Follow Lord You Xiaomao—charge!!"

The other Qing Si members charged after You Xiaomao in unison.

Fang Yue's face darkened.

"Tail, we're leaving!"

"I'll take the secret passage—follow close behind. I can't afford to be seen by Government forces right now."

"Got it!"

Tail couldn't appear openly due to the Juan Niao Lou incident.

And Fang Yue himself didn't want to fight Qing Si, especially these people who might be related to You Sisi—making it even harder for him to strike back.

Though You Xiaomao had launched the first charge, Fang Yue moved faster and quickly pulled far ahead, widening the gap between them.

"Don't run! Don't run! I'll kill you! Avenge my brother!!"

"A monster that speaks human language! Stop right there! No matter where you flee—to the ends of the earth, to any corner—you will die by my hand as long as I live! I will tear you limb from limb, and have you torn apart by five horses!!"

You Xiaomao roared fiercely, but Fang Yue's figure had already shrunk to a tiny black dot, about to vanish from sight.

At that moment, a dozen Black Blood monsters suddenly emerged before Fang Yue, blocking his path.

Seeing the monster appear, You Xiaomao's face darkened further—he already couldn't catch up to that monster, and now it had suddenly gained allies; he had even less chance of catching it.

But the next instant, he saw those "monster allies" attack Fang Yue.

The dozen monsters surged forward, but a sword's hum rang out—a terrifying slash, as if tearing through space itself, instantly decapitated all twelve monsters!

What is this?!

Do the monsters have internal conflicts? Or were they never aligned to begin with?

Regardless, the sudden shift from obstacle to aid filled You Xiaomao with sudden hope.

Because the monster's sudden appearance and attack had genuinely slowed down the fleeing one.

Just that brief delay allowed him to close the distance to Fang Yue, renewing his hope of catching him.

The murder of my brother must be avenged!

You Xiaomao immediately accelerated again.

But soon, he realized Fang Yue's speed was always faster than his—and worse, though Fang Yue could easily outrun him, he chose to pull ahead, then inexplicably pause, even deliberately slowing down to dangle just out of reach.

To others, this might seem like Fang Yue was waiting for someone to catch up; to You Xiaomao, it was blatant provocation—humiliation!

Enraged, he charged forward with full strength.

Just as he was about to sprint past the intersection ahead…

Dozens of Black Blood monsters suddenly burst out from both sides of the road.

These Black Blood monsters had changed since the ones Fang Yue had slain earlier.

Their bodies, drenched in Black Blood, glistened with a pulsing black sheen—the lingering blood shimmered faintly, giving off a chilling aura.

Normally, encountering such strange monsters, You Xiaomao would have retreated far away, observed their behavior, assessed their strength, planned a strategy, then hunted them.

But now, You Xiaomao's mind was clouded by rage.

Anything blocking his path—he had only one word: Kill!

He drew his massive axe and swung it straight at the nearest Black Blood monster charging toward him!

The axe sliced through the monster's body without resistance—then instantly, he felt its transformation: its body's structural strength shifted in an instant, hardening into a superhuman density that stopped his axe from sinking even half an inch!

The axe became stuck in the first Black Blood monster's shoulder, immovable.

"How is this possible?!"

You Xiaomao's face paled—he instantly realized these Black Blood monsters were not simple low-grade monsters as he'd assumed, but genuine Catastrophe-grade monsters!

But it was already too late!

The moment he faltered, the other Black Blood monsters seized the chance and lunged at him, biting and clawing wildly.

Despite abandoning his axe, dodging desperately, and thrashing to shake off the monsters clinging to his legs and arms…

Before he could fling them away, their black blood had already transformed into black spears, piercing his right eye, left shoulder, and slashing his cheek.

After shaking off the monsters, You Xiaomao scrambled away in a desperate, clumsy scramble.

Catastrophe-grade monsters correspond to Human-grade warriors.

And he, You Xiaomao, Red Clothes of Jingcheng's Qingsi, was unmistakably a Human-grade warrior! And even… a Human Grade High-Level Warrior!

Compared to his elder brother You Da Mao, his strength was no weaker—only stronger.

Due to the elder-younger distinction, even with such power, he still obeyed his brother's orders without ever overstepping.

Yet he never imagined his brother would die so suddenly, so inexplicably, at the hands of that monster.

Though life is unpredictable, and Qingsi's duty is to risk one's life fighting monsters to protect the people…

One might say, walk by the river often enough, you'll get your shoes wet—everyone accepts this mentally.

But when it actually happened, You Xiaomao could not accept it.

So he wanted to kill the monster ahead—to avenge his brother.

But now, he felt utterly lost.

Because his full-power strike had failed to kill these Black Blood monsters!

And that monster which killed his brother? It had slain a dozen of these in an instant—effortlessly!

The gap in power was so vast it inspired despair.

How can I avenge him? How can I avenge my brother?!

Even—can I even escape these Black Blood monsters' pursuit?

The wounds on his arm and shoulder made his running slower, his body heavier—but strangely, the Black Blood monsters that should have chased him immediately never appeared.

He turned to look back—and froze.

There was no trace of Black Blood monsters behind him—nothing but empty road.

As he hesitated, a strange whisper suddenly reached his ear.

"Do you want revenge?"

"Give your body to us!"

"Merge with us—to avenge your brother!"

"For revenge, you'll sacrifice anything, won't you?"

The strange whispers were brief and illusory, some fragmented, hard to make out clearly.

Just then…

"Master You Xiaomao! Master You Xiaomao!"

You Xiaomao snapped back to reality—and saw his Qingsi squad members gathered around him, watching him with concern.

Just now... how long was I zoning out?

No, that's not the focus now!

"Right, right—are you all okay? Did you encounter those black-blooded monsters, and the one that killed my brother? Which direction did they run off to?"

The Qing Si team members, upon hearing You Xiaomao's questions, grew strangely expressionless.

They exchanged uneasy glances and said: "Commander You Xiaomao, are the black-blooded monsters you're referring to the dozen or so corpses lying ahead? As for the target you're seeking, we have no idea where he went."

This soldier was lying.

Because when You Xiaomao fled, those black-blooded monsters turned and attacked the arriving team members; in that moment of danger, they were saved by Fang Yue, who made a verbal agreement with them before leaving to hunt down the black-blooded monsters.

"Turned into corpses... so it was that guy who killed them..."

You Xiaomao clenched his fists, his heart filled with resentment.

The gap in strength was so immense—how could he ever get a chance to avenge his brother?

As You Xiaomao pondered these thoughts, the whisper in his ear suddenly grew clear again.

"Want... power?"

Yes!!

Though he didn't understand what the whisper was, You Xiaomao still voiced his inner cry!

After You Xiaomao voiced his firm resolve.

It was like a moment of zoning out.

When he came to his senses, all he saw was a ground littered with corpses!

The corpses were unmistakably his teammates—those who had stood by him through life and death for so many years!

"What happened? Did I kill them?"

You Xiaomao reached out his hands in confusion, seeing only his palms drenched in blood, streaming down along the lines of his palms, dripping onto the ground.

Staring at this blood, he strangely felt a hunger.

His dry throat rolled, and his entire body lost control, frantically licking his fingers, desperate to bite them off and swallow them whole.

The moment this thought surfaced.

Crack! —he had already bitten off his own finger; before he could even register it, he was chewing the flesh, swallowing the shredded bits into his stomach.

"How could this be... what am I doing? Why am I..."

You Xiaomao was bewildered, but his primal impulse left him utterly unable to restrain himself.

He didn't know what he was doing—only that some inner force was driving his actions.

The corpses of his former comrades suddenly appeared to him as something else: human-shaped chickens, radiating an irresistible aroma, each bite promising supreme pleasure.

So he moved.

His body bent low, descending toward the corpse of his former comrade.

Drip.

Black blood trickled from his eyes, falling onto his comrade's body.

Through his comrade's unblinking, lifeless eyes, reflected in the eyeballs, he saw his own current form clearly.

A five-meter-tall muscular monster, drenched in black blood, continuously oozing more black blood from its body, explosive power brewing within, ready to erupt at any moment.

And the price of this power... was that he felt hungry.

Hunger consumed his consciousness, turning him into a mere monster that knew only how to feed.

"So this is it... I've been possessed."

The thought flashed through his mind, and You Xiaomao bit off half the body of his fallen comrade, chewing it down in greedy gulps!

Today's move took all day; update delayed.

(End of Chapter)